Water is our most fundamental natural resource, a resource that is limited. Challenges to our nation's water resources continue to grow, driven by population growth, ecological needs, climate change, and other pressures. The nation needs more and improved water science and information to meet these challenges. Toward a Sustainable and Secure Water Future reviews the United States Geological Survey's (USGS) Water Resource Discipline (WRD), one of the nation's foremost water science organizations. This book provides constructive advice to help the WRD meet the nation's water needs over the coming decades. Of interest primarily to the leadership of the USGS WRD, many findings and recommendations also target the USGS leadership and the Department of Interior (DOI), because their support is necessary for the WRD to respond to the water needs of the nation.
Solving problems related to use of water resources will be of paramount importance in coming decades as increasing pressure from growing populations, climate change, extreme weather, and aging water-related infrastructure threaten water availability and quality. The Water Mission Area (WMA) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has a long-established reputation for collecting and delivering high-quality, unbiased scientific information related to the nation's water resources. WMA observations help inform decisions ranging from rapid responses during emergencies such as hurricanes, floods, and forest fires, to the long-term management of water resources. Produced at the request of USGS, this report identifies the nation's highest-priority water science and resources challenges over the next 25 years. Future Water Priorities for the Nation summarizes WMA's current water science and research portfolio, and recommends strategic opportunities for WMA to more effectively address the most pressing challenges.
Watershed research is conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to expand our understanding of basic hydrologic mechanisms and their responses at the watershed scale and to provide information that serves as the basis for water and environmental management activities carried out largely by other governmental and private entities. The work of the USGS in this area is carried out by its Water Resources Division and occurs in three general program areas: basic research, regional and site assessments, and data collection. These activities are becoming increasingly important, especially in the context of water and environmental management, where contemporary problems are being approached more than ever on an integrated ecosystems or watershed basis and where the underlying physical, chemical, and biological science is complex. Although the value of this type of hydrologic research is well recognized within the USGS, available financial resources to support it remain modest. Thus, this study seeks to help maximize the effectiveness of the agency's work. The study took two years, during which time the committee visited field sites, received briefings, reviewed descriptive materials, deliberated toward conclusions, and wrote this report. Recommendations are intended to assist the USGS in improving its overall strategy for work in this area; descriptions of a number of scientific opportunities are included, and appropriate circumstances for collaboration with and support for others are identified.
Losses of life and property in the United States-and throughout the world-resulting from hydrologic hazards, including floods, droughts, and related phenomena, are significant and increasing. Public awareness of, and federal attention to, natural disaster reduction, with a focus on mitigation or preparedness so as to minimize the impacts of such events, have probably never been greater than at present. With over three-quarters of federal disaster declarations resulting from water-related events, national interest in having the best-possible hydrologic data, information, and knowledge as the basis for assessment and reduction of risks from hydrologic hazards is clear. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) plays a variety of unique and critical roles relevant to hydrologic hazard understanding, preparedness, and response. The agency's data collection, research, techniques development, and interpretive studies provide the essential bases for national, state, and local hydrologic hazard risk assessment and reduction efforts. This work includes some of the more traditional activities of the Water Resources Division (e.g., streamflow measurement) and some of the more innovative interdisciplinary activities (e.g., hydrologic research, educational outreach, real-time data transmission, and risk communication) being pursued in cooperation with other divisions of the USGS, other federal and state agencies, and other local entities. This report aims to help shape a strategy and improve the overall framework of USGS efforts in these important areas.
Watershed research is conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to expand our understanding of basic hydrologic mechanisms and their responses at the watershed scale and to provide information that serves as the basis for water and environmental management activities carried out largely by other governmental and private entities. The work of the USGS in this area is carried out by its Water Resources Division and occurs in three general program areas: basic research, regional and site assessments, and data collection. These activities are becoming increasingly important, especially in the context of water and environmental management, where contemporary problems are being approached more than ever on an integrated ecosystems or watershed basis and where the underlying physical, chemical, and biological science is complex. Although the value of this type of hydrologic research is well recognized within the USGS, available financial resources to support it remain modest. Thus, this study seeks to help maximize the effectiveness of the agency's work. The study took two years, during which time the committee visited field sites, received briefings, reviewed descriptive materials, deliberated toward conclusions, and wrote this report. Recommendations are intended to assist the USGS in improving its overall strategy for work in this area; descriptions of a number of scientific opportunities are included, and appropriate circumstances for collaboration with and support for others are identified.
In order to confront the increasingly severe water problems faced by all parts of the country, the United States needs to make a new commitment to research on water resources. A new mechanism is needed to coordinate water research currently fragmented among nearly 20 federal agencies. Given the competition for water among farmers, communities, aquatic ecosystems and other users-as well as emerging challenges such as climate change and the threat of waterborne diseases-Confronting the Nation's Water Problems concludes that an additional $70 million in federal funding should go annually to water research. Funding should go specifically to the areas of water demand and use, water supply augmentation, and other institutional research topics. The book notes that overall federal funding for water research has been stagnant in real terms for the past 30 years and that the portion dedicated to research on water use and social science topics has declined considerably.
Rivers provide about 60 percent of the nation's drinking water and irrigation water and 10 percent of the nation's electric power needs. The multiple and sometimes incompatible services demanded of rivers often lead to policy and management conflicts that require the integration of science-based information. This report advises the U.S. Geological Survey on how it can best address river science challenges by effectively using its resources and coordinating its activities with other agencies. The report identifies the highest priority river science issues for the USGS, including environmental flows and river restoration, sediment transport and geomorphology, and groundwater surface-water interactions. It also recommends two cross-cutting science activities including surveying and mapping the nation's river systems according to key physical and landscape features, and expanding work on predictive models, especially those that simulate interactions between physical-biological processes. The report identifies key variables to be monitored and data-managed. It proposes enhancements in streamflow, biological, and sediment monitoring; these include establishing multidisciplinary, integrated reach-scale monitoring sites and developing a comprehensive national sediment monitoring program. Finally, it encourages the USGS to be at the forefront of new technology application, including airborne lidar and embedded, networked, wireless sensors.
Groundwater is a basic resource for humans and natural ecosystems and is one of the nation's most important natural resources. Groundwater is pumped from wells to supply drinking water to about 130 million U.S. residents and is used in all 50 states. About 40 percent of the nation's public water supply and much of the water used for irrigation is provided by groundwater. Despite the importance of groundwater as one of our most precious natural resources, an organized, effective program to provide an ongoing assessment of the nation's groundwater resources does not exist. With encouragement from the U.S. Congress, the USGS is planning for a new program of regional and national scale assessment of U.S. groundwater resources, thus helping bring new order to its various groundwater resources-related activities. The Survey's senior scientists requested advice in regard to the design of such a program. In response, the committee undertook this study in support of developing an improved program relevant to regional and national assessment of groundwater resources. This report is a product of the Committee on USGS Water Resources Research, which provides consensus advice on scientific, research, and programmatic issues to the Water Resources Division (WRD) of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The committee is one of the groups that work under the auspices of the Water Science and Technology Board of the National Research Council (NRC). The committee considers a variety of topics that are important scientifically and programmatically to the USGS and the nation, and it issues reports when appropriate. This report concerns the work of the WRD in science and technology relevant to assessments of groundwater resources on regional and national scales. The USGS has been conducting scientific activity relevant to groundwater resources for over 100 years and, as summarized in Appendix A, today groundwater-related work occurs throughout the WRD.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has adapted to the changing political, economic, and technical state of the nation and the world since it was established in the late nineteenth century. Over a period of more than 120 years, the USGS has evolved from a small group of scientists who collected data and provided guidance on how to parcel, manage, and use the public lands of the West to an agency comprised of thousands of scientists who conduct research and assessment activities on complex scientific issues at scales ranging from the local to the global. The USGS will no doubt continue to evolve and adapt to meet changing national needs. In fact, the recent integration of the National Biological Service and parts of the U.S. Bureau of Mines into the USGS presents an ideal opportunity to examine the agency's vision, mission, role, and scientific opportunities as the organization begins the early years of the twenty-first century. The USGS recognized the need to adapt to changing demands when it asked the National Research Council (NRC) to undertake this study. The NRC formed a multidisciplinary committee of 16 experts to address issues related to the future roles, challenges, and opportunities of the agency.
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